donger need food.

Half My Age

It's hard to believe that I'm now twice the age of the average college freshman... Sitting there on the edge of the stage watching young people try to pull of the spectacle that is the Pilipino Culture Night, I suddenly come to grips with the fact that I am now considered old. [One of the singers in the opening act said, "some of you may remember the group Xscape?"...Jeez, I was in college when they came out. I wonder if these singers remember Seduction? Or The Cover Girls? Or Sweet Sensation?]

Well, watching an episode of SpeakOut on TFC (where they talked about the pros/cons of the "Culture Night") got my blood flowing again about PCNs. During the USF show, I had inevitably checked myself out and started daydreaming...

The PCN is a wonderful concept, but (in my not so humble opinion) has lost focus in the years since its inception. My interpretation was that it is a forum through which ideas and topics can be presented to spark discussion among the audience about things that don't normally receive media attention. Like, say, domestic violence - that deep dark unspoken secret within the Filipino (Asian?) communities - for example. The efforts year-to-year are laudable, some more than others, but it seems that a few important factors prevent the shows from getting any better and maintaining consistency with the original concept:

• No real guidance: when I was a participant (jeez, decades ago), there was no real framework with which to base your goals & mission of the show. It really was all dependent upon the intent & motivation of the core group of creators. Personally, I watched other colleges do it and tried to one-up 'em. But just imagine if there was a resource - in whatever form - through which the purpose and guidelines for such a show would be available?
• Amateurs: being a school production put together by volunteers that ran the gamut from nerdy bio majors to wannabe art students, the presentation was quite honestly... a glorified high school play. (Hell, my first skit looked like sh*t. Are they in the living room? Oh, it's the kitchen!) Imagine the power that a glossy, full-on production replete with props, stagework and real acting skills would bring?
• Kids: face it, the people on stage and the people in the audience are all a bunch of kids. And with the "shout out" name-calling, I can't see the PCN elevating itself to the level that it deserves to be. I admit it, this is me; grumpy old gray-haired man, bitter at the youth wasted on the young and the fact that those glory days of getting a group of actors to successfully execute the script that you wrote are now long gone.
• No continuation: The efforts from one group one year are largely thrown into a closet and locked away. I'm guessing that subsequent "batches" start from scratch, instead of building on the legacy of shows gone past.
  

I guess I'm just frustrated that after over 10 years, the PCN hasn't really changed. It's still the same crazy glorified talent show that I remember, with students still putting their academia on hold for something they honestly believe is making a difference. Only this time, there's more hip hop dancing and more singing. And the shows are 50% longer. A GMA Super Show for Filipino Americans, if you will. Imagine if there was, say, some type of "reference implementation" or a book of guidelines for what makes a good show, what makes a bad show and why. And maybe a group of advisors that can help achieve consistency and a level of quality within the various programs among the Universities?

I must say this, though...regardless of all my complaints, "The Show" was the jumping off point for a not so insignificant chapter in my own life, a prerequisite for growing up. Not only did I learn valuable lessons in group dynamics, managing personalities, and what it really takes to complete a huge project, I opened the door to discovery about a part of my culture, my people, and where I come from.

And heck, I ain't gonna to deny it...for a short proverbial 15 minutes of my life in that dimly lit Mandeville auditorium, this wannabe was able to shed that nerdy computer engineering facade and pretend that he could write & direct in front of 500 people.

No one can ever take that away from me, no matter how insignificant of an accomplishment in the long road of life...

posted by VirtualErn @ 12:10 AM

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